“That’s right. Keeping going until I stop you.”
“Yes, husband.”
My feet went from the soft plastic of the bathmat to bare tile, slick beneath my toes. He changed positions, letting go of my thighs to move around me. For a second, I wasn’t certain of where he was, until his mouth latched on to my left nipple. I felt the wet warmth of his tongue as he flicked the beaded tip, the barest edge of his teeth, then a sharper suckle. Bracing myself, I went rigid, my entire body stiffening against what he might do, and despite trying not to react in any other way than what he wished for me to, one word went careening out of my mouth in a loud and imploring whimper.
“No.”
24
Romeo
“No.”
The word came from my wife’s lips as a plaintive cry, and not expecting it, I responded how I once would’ve.
“No?” I barked at her, my tone harsh. It was automatic, a knee-jerk reaction, and the next thing I noticed was a rapid huff of breath, followed up immediately by a shudder. Lucia was crying. No, she wassobbing. What the hell? She’d been into what I’d been doing. I know she had. My cock had already thickened in readiness for her, and my annoyance at this interruption came out as more than evident. “What’s wrong with you, Lucia?”
“I’m… I’m…” She descended into a full-on breakdown. Now, though, my concern kicked in. While she used to resist me early on, she hadn’t acted like this in a long time. Really, she’dneveracted like this, like a faucet going for steamy hot to icy cold. “I don’t…”
Baffled, I prodded her, pulling off her blindfold. “You don’t what?”
But she covered her eyes with her hands as if not able to look at me. “I… I don’t want to be punished.”
For a couple of heartbeats, I didn’t understand what she meant, but then, it hit me. I’d once punished her with more than enough force to make her afraid, even if she’d ended up liking it. And there’d been a time when a part of my evil soul had enjoyed making her tremble with fear before she surrendered to me.
“Farfalla, I’m not going to punish…” I stopped because she was still weeping so hard. “Lucia, settle down. I’m not going to punish you. Besides, you said you trusted me.”
“I’m sorry,” she squeaked out sadly, and I brought her down into my lap. Not how I’d originally imagined bringing her into my lap, either. I didn’t find it easy to concentrate with no blood in my brain and standing for long periods of time also made my hip ache.
“Tell me why you’re sorry.”
“Because… I told you I trusted you, but then, when you…” She wrapped an arm over her chest to cover up, which disappointed me. The size of her breasts had already increased by at least a cup size, and I couldn’t seem to get enough of them. “I’m tender, and I know it’ll hurt.”
“You’re tender?”
“My breasts are tender. Because of the baby hormones, I guess.”
I observed her, speechless. During her first appointment with the midwife, Lucia had stepped out to go to the restroom, and the midwife, a lady named Maya, had handed me her card with a website on it.
“This is your first foray into fatherhood, correct?” she asked in her brusque manner.
“It is.”
“Do yourself a favor and check out this website when you get a free moment. Your wife’s body is about to change dramatically and often this means you’ll see mood swings, as well. She may have a shorter temper or cry easily and at things you might think she had no reason to cry about. She’ll need two things from you if—and likely when—this happens. Patience and support.”
The midwife’s words came back to me now. I hadn’t taken the time to peruse that website, but wasn’t this exactly what Maya had warned me about? Lucia Bonifacio had been tough and feisty from the second I’d met her, so seeing her react so strongly now might easily mean this was pregnancy related. Also, using her breasts like a couple of chew toys might not be the best of ideas. Not that I’d planned to do that in the first place. Still, regret pounded through me like a freight train, leaving a gaping hole in its wake. Gingerly, I pushed her dark hair behind each of her ears.
“What I did before was inexcusable, and I know that.” I exhaled in a gust. “But I left that man behind. He’s not me. Not anymore. Not since I thought I’d lost you.” I rubbed circles into her spine, then a lightbulb went off over my head. I lifted her from my lap to situate her on the bench. “Don’t move, I’ll be right back.”
When I’d come back, I had the same knife in my hand I’d once used months ago. I sliced into my palm then waited for her to offer me hers. This time I didn’t ask her to trust me, I merely left it up to her to show it. She’d managed to quit sobbing, though the occasional tear still ran in a miniature rivulet down her face. Regardless, she gave me her hand palm up.
Even more gently than I had the first time, I made a tiny slit in her skin. Then, I pressed our bleeding palms together. “I, Romeo Cavetti, hereby make a blood pact swearing that I will never, ever harm you again. I swear it on my life as your husband and as the father to that baby growing inside of you. Do you believe me?”
She nodded, and I stood, collecting the mobile spray nozzle and bringing it over to rinse off both our hands. “Don’t you want me to swear to something?” she asked, calmer now.
“No. I heard everything I needed to hear from you on our wedding day.”
Lucia sat there on the bench, banding her arms around herself as if she felt small. I wasn’t having any of that. Instead, I brought her to her feet and let the warm water sluice over her skin and her luxurious hair. Taking the shampoo, I drizzled it over her head and massaged it into her scalp, lathering it up.
